Phantom at a Crossroads
by Ybarra87
Summary: Danny has had a rough couple years with destroying the ghost portal so no more ghosts would come out to his parents and friends to washing their hands with him. To get through his anger he has been participating in underground fighting. Now that he has graduated he now needs to figure out what to do with his life. I do not own anything belong to Danny Phantom or the Street Fighter.


**This was something small I came up with and wanted to tell. It has Danny interacting with Menat because I feel those two would be interesting together. Anyway I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

It was night time in Amity Park and for Danny he was currently in a warehouse fighting with all his might. Now you may think he's fighting a ghost but he's not, instead he's fighting a man in an illegal street fighting tournament. You may be asking yourself why he's fighting a living person as himself and not fighting ghosts as Phantom, well the answer is simple be became tired of being Phantom and everything that came with it. With his parents continually taking shots at him to Vlad playing his mind games with him all the way to his former friends Sam and Tucker taking advantage of his ghost powers. It was basically a cycle that kept repeating itself daily to the point where he had enough and decided to stop it once and for all. Danny just wanted it to stop and knew the one way to do it was to destroy the thing that started this mess as well as gave him his powers: the ghost portal.

It was an easy thing for him to do since he made it a habit of studying every invention his parents invented to see how useful as well as harmful they could be to him. He basically understood how every one of their inventions worked and knew the right way to destroy it making sure it didn't cause a huge explosion let alone hurt him. When his parents found out what he did they were furious by Danny just told them it was their invention that was the cause for all the ghost attacks and that he had finally had enough of the ghost attacks. By destroying the portal he has guaranteed that there would be no more ghost attacks. His parents had wanted to punish him after he said that but Danny had made sure to lead them outside where there were people around so everyone could hear it. While they couldn't exactly punish Danny when the whole town now knew it was their ghost portal that the ghosts were coming out of they no longer wanted anything to do with him and decided to lock him out of the lab for good.

Eventually Vlad found out about what Danny did and decided to confront him about it only for Danny to tell him he was tired of the mind games he was constantly playing with him and the numerous murder attempts on his father. Vlad told Danny just because he destroyed the portal didn't mean the attacks were going to stop however Danny pointed out that if any ghosts came out of the portal he had then the town might start asking questions like who would have another ghost portal and might actually figure out it's him. Vlad knew Danny had a point if he allowed ghosts to come out of his ghost portal to terrorize the town and realized he had no choice but to shut it down. He could see that Danny had actually got one over on him and decided to let it go for now.

As for Sam and Tucker, they were furious about what Danny did but he told them if they truly cared about him then they would let it go and move on. However Sam and Tucker refused to let it go and that just forced Danny to drop them from his life.

Danny was basically on his own from then on living his life the best he could each day. However school was for him was very difficult from the A-listers giving him trouble to Sam and Tucker giving him trouble as well. He did his best to keep up his grades up and stay out of trouble but it eventually became difficult with Dash constantly bothering him. One day Danny had finally had enough and fought back by punching Dash, of course Dash got let off but Danny didn't. It made him mad that the teachers refused to do the right thing because they cared more about winning school games then what idiots like him do to others. Danny couldn't help but feel angry about this and wanted to let it out on something, he was sent home early from school that day but instead of heading home to hear his parents yell at him and then send him to his room he decided to walk around the town. It was by chance he stumbled upon an underground street fighting tournament, Danny was filled with so much anger and rage that he wanted to let it out and saw this as a chance to do that without using his ghost form. He then approached who was in charge and registered himself to fight, after his fight he couldn't help but feel much more relaxed and knew where to come whenever he was feeling angry.

As the time went by Danny had become a regular participant of the street fighting ring operating in Amity Park. Every time he went there it was usually due to something upsetting him either his parents, school, or his former friends. To Danny he felt he no longer had anything important in his life besides his sister Jazz and his daughter/clone Dani, he would often make time for her whenever she came home from college giving her parents a disappointed look for the way they were acting towards Danny in the process. He did the same for Dani whenever she came into town to see him as well. Eventually Danny graduated high school but shortly after that he was kicked out of the house by his parents. Their reason for this was because they thought Danny had been stealing the parts they needed to repair the ghost portal which was actually spot on since Danny would fly into the lab to steal the part and dispose of it just so they couldn't rebuild the portal. Luckily Jazz was in town for Danny's graduation when this happened and helped him find a place to stay until he figured out what to do next.

That's why Danny was currently fighting, he needed to try and find out what to do with his life and he found it helpful whenever he was fighting. Danny just dodged the punch his opponent threw at him and countered with his own punch knocking his opponent out. Danny just turned away and walked towards the area where he kept his bag full of supplies as the ref declared Danny the winner. As Danny pulled out a water bottle he had in his bag he noticed the manager of the street fighting arena coming towards him. "What's up Jim?" He asked as Jim the manager stood in front of him.

"I noticed that there was something eating you during the fight, care to share?" Jim asked since he basically knew all about Danny and what he's been through with his family and friends. It wasn't a big secret about what Danny did and Jim knew from the moment he met Danny that he needed to fight in order to get his anger out.

"Yeah I'm just trying to figure out what to do now since I graduated high school." Danny said as JIm just nodded.

"Yeah, I heard your parents threw you out." He responded as Danny gave a nod.

"Yeah they accused me of stealing parts they were going to use to repair the ghost portal and threw me out the moment I graduated since they were no longer obliged to take me in. Luckily my sister Jazz was in town for my graduation and saw what happened so she found me a place to stay for now until I can figure something out." Danny replied as Jim looked at him.

"Did you steal those parts?" He asked as Danny just replied with a small sly smirk. Jim just gave a chuckle seeing this. "Hey I don't blame you for what you did especially since all the ghosts that attacked the town came out from that portal. The only good thing out of that mess was Phantom but with your parents shooting at him all the time as well Mayor Masters declaring he was evil and had to be destroyed, I can't really blame him for not sticking around when people just thought he was a menace. Personally I didn't but that's just my opinion." Danny just gave a small smile hearing that as Jim then asked. "Anyway have you made up you mind yet on what to do?"

"Well I'm thinking about attending the local college in town." Danny answered as Jim just stared at him.

"Is that what you want to do?" He asked.

"To be honest, I feel there's nothing left for me in Amity Park anymore." Danny replied with a small frown on his face.

"Then why stay?" Jim then asked.

Danny just gave a sigh. "I just have to!" He shouted.

"Fine, I'm not going to pressure you for answers." Jim responded. "Anyway are you still up for some more fights?"

Danny just looked at Jim giving him a small smile. "Yeah I am." He said. "Are there any who look like they could be a challenge?"

"Actually yeah, this girl walked in a few minutes after your fight started and signed up. I could tell from the moment I saw her that she was experienced. If you want I could set up a match between you two." Jim answered as Danny gave him a nod.

"If you thinks she's a challenge then do it." He said as Jim went off to arrange the fight between Danny and the girl he mentioned. About a few minutes later Danny was called down to the arena by Jim and saw his opponent, she was basically a dark skin girl with green eyes and short dark purple hair. Danny noticed she was wearing Egyptian clothes but the thing that really caught his eye was the crystal ball she was holding. Danny knew this was no regular opponent in front of him, for some reason he couldn't help but be wary of her as he sensed something from her however that wasn't going to stop him from fighting her.

"I take it your my opponent?" The girl asked as she looked at Danny while giving him a friendly smile.

"The name is Danny." He replied as he smiled back at her.

"Hello Danny my name is Menat." The girl now known as Menat said. "I can sense that you're going to be a worthy opponent for me."

"I can say the same for me as well." Danny replied as Menat got into her fighting stance.

"Just a warning for you, I don't intend to hold back in this fight so I suggest you don't hold back either. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I want you going easy on me." Menat said as Danny got into his fighting stance.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He replied as the ref then signaled them to fight.

As soon at the fight started Menat held her crystal ball up and launched it towards Danny. Danny immediately rolled out of it's way but saw it coming right back at it like it was some kind of seeking missile. Seeing this Danny ran towards the crystal catching it in his hands only for Menat to appear on top of it and kick him in the face knocking him down. "I have to admit you're the first person to ever catch my crystal ball with their bare hands, I'm surprised that someone actually managed to do that." Menat said as Danny picked himself up.

"Well I'm full of a lot of surprises." Danny replied as he ran towards her only for her to try and kick him. Luckily Danny saw that and grabbed her leg however that didn't stop her from launching her crystal ball towards him again. Danny saw this and immediately released her leg as he then smacked her crystal ball right back towards her which she caught with her hands, before she could send her crystal ball right back at him Danny appeared right in front of her and kicked her in the stomach sending her back a couple feet. Menat quickly picked herself up and gave Danny a smile as he struck her again this time in the face only for him to disappear the moment he struck her and appeared behind him to kick him. Unfortunately for her Danny had his guard up and grabbed her foot before she could kick him and tossed her in front of him onto the ground.

Menat just picked herself up and looked at Danny. 'Could he be the person Master sent me here for?' She thought to herself as she just shook her head. "I have to admit you're quite something. Now I'm going to hit you with everything I got!" She shouted out.

The moment she said that Danny started to prepare himself as six appeared around her. The orbs then started coming at Danny with two managing to hit him while the others circled him. "Looks like I'm gonna have to set things up now if I want to win." He said to himself as another orb came at him but Danny then smacked it with his arm right towards Menat hitting her.

Menat gave a puzzled look at how he could do that and saw that his body was giving off some kind of green glow that nobody but her could see. "So it is him." She said to herself as she then sent the last three orbs at him only for to grab two of the orbs smashing them together and destroying them as he then grabbed the last orb and three it at her only for her crystal ball to block it protecting her. "I think it's time to end this fight once and for all!" She yelled out as she sent her crystal ball towards Danny at a fast speed with it hitting him then started to circle around him and continue hitting him.

Danny could barely see Menat's crystal ball as it quickly circled around him but he could still see it, seeing it's movements he grabbed her crystal ball the moment it was about to hit him stopping it in it's tracks as his hand was lightly glowing green. He then walked right towards Menat with her crystal ball in his hands, Menat was doing her best to call it back to her but was finding it impossible for some reason until she saw Danny right in front of her who then hit her in the gut sending her flying and knocking her down to the ground as the ref began counting to three only for Menat not to get up when he reached three. As the ref called the match in Danny's favor he walked over to Menat who was still conscious and gave her back her crystal ball. "Good match." He said as he went to the area where his bag was to rest.

As Danny took out another bottle of water and began to drink it, he noticed Menat walking towards him. "I have to admit you have quite the punch." She said as she sat down next to him.

"Well I never fought anyone like you before." Danny admitted as he gave Menat a small smile as he then added. "I never met anyone who could use a crystal ball in a fight like you did. How did you do that?"

"From my master, she taught me how to use Soul Power." Menat answered as Danny gave her a confused look.

"Soul Power? I never heard of that fighting style before." He replied.

"What about you? Where did you learn your fighting style?" She then asked.

"I taught myself how to fight." Danny replied. Menat could see that Danny was being cryptic about this and did not want to tell her but she was determined to find out why her master sent her to meet him. However before she could say anything she noticed a blue mist coming out of his mouth. Danny just gave a panicked look when this happened. "Oh no." He said as the sound of shouting and explosions could be heard.

"Where are you?! Come out and face me, you whelp!" A familiar voice cried out from the arena.

Danny knew all to well who it was: Skulker and then turned to Menat. "You better get out of here. This place is being attacked by a ghost." He said as he grabbed his bag and went towards the arena to where Skulker was.

As he ran out Menat just gave a confused look. "There's a ghost attacking this place?" She asked herself as she then decided to follow Danny to the arena.

As Danny got out to the arena he saw Jim yelling at everyone to get out while Skulker started to blast the place screaming for Danny to get out. As everyone exited the place Jim saw Danny running towards him. "I take it your parents finally fixed that dumb portal." He stated.

"Well, they kicked me out so I couldn't stop them from fixing it anymore so yeah it was going to happen." Danny replied as he looked at Skulker.

"I take it you have something to battle that guy with?" Jim then asked as Danny gave a nod.

"Yeah I managed to swipe a few things from their lab just incase they ever fixed the portal and the ghosts started attacking again." Danny stated as he set him bag down.

Jim just looked at Danny and gave him a small smirk. "Then you do what you need to do, kid. Go kick his ass." He responded as he then left.

Danny then walked towards Skulker who was still blasting the area trying to get Danny to come out. "Get out here you whelp! I know you're here so come out and face me!" He screamed out.

"I'm right here you sack of ghost bolts!" Danny shouted out as Skulker then turned towards him.

"So there you are, I see that you have grown over these years when you became a coward and shut down the portal." Skulker stated as Danny looked at him.

"I was getting tired of kicking your butt all the time since you aren't really a challenge." Danny responded earning an angry look from Skulker. "Besides you can thank my parents and Vlad for forcing me to shut it down for good."

"Yes, Vlad told me you closed it because you were tired of us coming after you and then told me I couldn't use his portal to hunt you since it would raise questions. He told me to wait until your parents fixed the portal and that he would help them with it. I did not expect it to take this long though." Skulker explained.

"Yeah, well I've been stealing the parts my parents needed for the portal so they couldn't fix it which was going fine until I graduated and they kicked me out." Danny replied as Skulker gave out a devious grin.

"So you graduated from your school? Allow me to give you a present for doing that by adding your pelt to my wall!" He shouted out as Danny looked at him with a bored look on his face.

"It sounds like that's more of a present for you. Besides a pelt? I thought over all these years you might actually be willing to do something more to my like have my body stuffed and mounted. I guess I was actually right, the only thing you can do is make pelts. And you call yourself a hunter." Danny replied as Skulker looked at him angrily.

"I don't need to make anything more than a pelt to prove I'm the greatest hunter ever!" He shouted out. "Now transform whelp so we can fight!"

Danny just looked at the ghost hunter and gave him a small sly smirk. "No Skulker, I think I'll take you on in this form." He said as he got into a fighting stance.

"Suit yourself whelp. This just makes it easy." Skulker replied as he then shot a net towards Danny only for him to roll out of it's way then jumped to where Skulker was floating and punched him in the face with his hand glowing green. The strength of Danny's punch was so strong it sent Skulker straight into the ground. "How did you do that?!" He shouted out as he picked himself up.

"While you were waiting for my parents to repair the portal, I've been busy getting stronger during this time. I found out during this time that I can channel my ghost powers into my human form making me stronger and faster while also strengthening my ghost form as well. You see Vlad always used his ghost form to do all of his work never bothering to strengthen his living form, I guess that might actually make me stronger than him now." Danny explained.

"Then that just makes you more worthy to become a pelt on my wall!" Skulker shouted as he began blasting ecto shots at Danny. However Danny just dodged each shot without any problem while he made his way to Skulker and then kicked him in the gut. He then began pummeling Skulker with his fists right into his stomach until he hit Skulker with an uppercut sending him flying to the ground. Seeing that he wasn't moving Danny then approached him only for Skulker to quickly pick himself up the moment Danny was close to him with his cannon aimed straight at Danny's chest.

"This is going to hurt." Danny said to himself as he waited for Skulker to fire only to see a crystal ball hit Skulker in the arm he was using causing the blast to go through the ceiling. Danny looked to see it was Menat.

"I thought you could use some help." She said as her crystal ball landed in hands.

Skulker just turned towards Menat and looked at her. "Interesting, according to my sensors you have some kind of unique power." He stated.

"It's called Soul Power!" She shouted causing a huge grin to form on Skulker's face.

"I've heard about Soul Power though I never thought I meet someone with it. I believe this hunt just got interesting." He said as he pointed his arm towards her intending to blast her only to get punched in the face by Danny knocking him down to the ground yet again.

Danny just turned towards Menat. "Since he wants to hunt you now, I suggest we team up. You use your crystal ball to make sure he can't fire at us while I focus taking out his body." He told her as she just gave a nod.

"Okay." She said as she then threw a crystal ball yet again at Skulker having it hit him over and over again making sure he couldn't get a shot out.

As Skulker kept getting hit, he let out a huge angry roar. "If you think this is enough to stop me you're wrong! It's going to take a lot more than your crystal ball to stop me!" He shouted out as Danny's fist came straight through his chest from behind.

"Is that enough to stop you?" Danny asked as he was glowing light green and pulled out his fist.

"Actually it is." Skulker replied as he dropped to the ground. Danny then made his way to his bag and pulled out his thermos, seeing this Skulker let out a scoff. "So what's the plan now whelp? Trap me in your thermos and then release me back into the Ghost Zone?"

"Actually I upgraded the thermos to sent you straight back to the Ghost Zone should I ever run across you or one of my other enemies." Danny replied.

Skulker just let out a scoff hearing that. "Go ahead and send me back but that won't stop me from coming after you again. I'll also be sure to tell the others about this and have them come with me the next time." He said as Danny gave out a small smirk.

"Then you will have to tell them that I beat you in my living form instead of my ghost form, I wonder how the others are going to react when they found this out?" He responded as Skulker realized that he would be the laughing stock of the Ghost Zone and knew it would be better to keep his mouth shut. Danny then sucked Skulker into his thermos sending him back to the Ghost Zone in the process. Danny then looked at Menat. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." She replied as Jim came into the room.

"I see you got rid of the ghost." He said as Danny gave a nod.

"Yeah it's been a while since I fought one but I managed to contain him." He replied as Jim just looked at him.

"Yeah I saw the whole thing, I'm surprised you didn't fight him as Phantom." He responded as Danny gave a shocked look hearing that. "I figured it out the first time you came here to participate in a fight, it wasn't that hard for me to figure out since you look like him and have the same fighting stance as style as well. You can relax your secret is safe, I don't know about her though." He said as he pointed to Menat.

"I really have no idea what just happened or what you're talking about and I really don't care but I do have business with you." She replied as she pointed at Danny.

"What do you want with me?" He asked.

"Well my master sent me down here to find someone. She really didn't tell me much like who he was or what he looked like but she said he would be here fighting and would give off a unique presence that is not of this world. That person is you, I figured that out from our fight plus what you did to that ghost." She answered as Danny gave a confused look.

"What do you want with me?" He asked as Menat then answered his question.

"I here to give you a fortune reading." She said as she sat down on the floor and pulled out some fortune telling cards. Danny just looked at her confused since he had no idea why she wanted to tell him his fortune. See that Danny was still standing Menat just frowned at him. "Hey I'm trying to give you a reading so be kind and sit down so I can do it!" She shouted as Danny sat down instantly.

"I'm curious why do you want to give me a fortune reading?" He asked as Menat set out the cards while Jim watched.

"My master says that you need one, she said something about a great being of time coming to her in a vision and asked for her help to help guide you. So she sent me to do it." Menat answered as Danny realized it was Clockwork who came to her master and this was one of his attempts to help guide him. Danny just gave a sigh as Menat had her cards ready and started to pulled out a few cards. "According to this you started have a difficult life when you turned fourteen, you basically died but at the same time you didn't. Whatever caused this made you take up a responsibility that others wouldn't do and while you are doing the right thing others don't see it. Eventually it got to you and you decided to put a stop to the problem however by doing that it separated you from most of the important people in your life but in the process it revealed who actually cared for you as you."

Danny just looked at Menat, basically she had described his life perfectly so far. "What else do the cards say?" He asked.

"They say the only people who are important to you are your sister and daughter since they love you for who you are." Menat replied as she looked at Danny. "You have a daughter?" She asked as Jim gave a stunned look.

"You have a kid?"

"It's a long story Jim, I'll tell you about it later." Danny replied as he looked at Menat and told her to continue.

"The cards also say you have a dark side you fear and that you're afraid of becoming like it. You do your best to make sure it don't give yourself into it but there is a fear in you that will come true." Menat said as Danny realized she was talking about Dan and gave a frown while she still continued. "You carry a lot of anger with you but you try not to let it consume you however lately you've been having trouble ridding yourself of it which brings us to now." Menat then looked Danny in the eyes. "You are at a crossroads."

"What do you mean I'm at a crossroads?" Danny asked.

"The cards say that you have a choice to make regarding your future." Menat answered. "There are two paths in front of you and right now you're only looking at one then both of them. If you should go down this path it could lead to you losing yourself to your anger and become what you fear but worst, you feel you need to stay on this path but the truth is you don't there's nothing on that path for you and you don't have to stay. The other path well I don't know where it leads you but it will take you on a long journey. You may make new memories or friends but it is not for certain. You might also think you're alone on this road as well but you aren't as you have two people who care for you. You need to make your choice soon but just know nothing is set in stone." Menat then collected her cards and picked herself up. "I hope that helped you."

Danny just looked at Menat as he tried to process everything he had just heard. Basically it felt like she had just told him everything he needed to hear about what to do. He knew there was nothing left for him in Amity Park but he couldn't go not while his parents have the ghost portal working. However he knew if he stayed he would lose himself to his anger and become Dan or in Menat's words something worst than Dan. As Danny continued to think to himself he felt Jim put his hand on his shoulder.

"I get the feeling you want to leave town but can't due to your parents." He said as he looked at Danny. "Truth be told this town doesn't deserve someone like you. You put your life on the line for us so many times without any thanks, you deserve to have your own life. As for your parents and the portal, you don't need to worry about that I have some friends who owe me some favors. I can call them to pull some strings so they can shut down your parent's project for good. You deserve to live your own life Danny so live it."

Danny just looked at Jim and smiled. "Thank you Jim." He said as he then looked at Menat. "And thank you for the fortune."

"I take it that it helped you make up your mind about which road to take?" She asked as Danny gave a nod.

"Yes it did." He replied.

After the incident with Skulker, Jim had called a few of his friends some of them with very powerful positions which resulted in the ghost portal being shut down for good with the threat should it ever be rebuilt they would be arrested. They also gave Vlad a warning saying that they know of his involvement with helping them rebuild the portal and if he ever tried again he would be under a huge government investigation. Vlad knew if he did something to them it would open a can of worms he would never be able to shut and had no choice but to give in.

As for Danny he got a hold of Jazz shortly after Jim's friends came in and told her what happened. Now Jazz didn't know about the fights Danny was participating so when she found out she couldn't help but be a bit disappointed however she understood why he did it. She also couldn't help but find his meeting with Menat to be a bit far fetched since she wasn't a big believer in fortune telling however as Danny told her what Menat had told him she couldn't help but be thankful that someone had managed to get through to Danny and got him to actually think about his future. Danny had told her that he want to leave town and explore the world for a bit before he went to college. He felt seeing a bit of the world could help him figure some stuff out and Jazz couldn't help but agree. Jazz had also asked about Menat and what happened after she gave him his fortune which he told her that Menat went back to her master saying she did what she was told. Jazz couldn't help but wonder who her master was but decided it wasn't important. What was important was the fact that Danny was finally moving forward with his future trying to make something of it and while his future wasn't set in stone yet at least he was no longer at a crossroads.

THE END


End file.
